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Monday, June 6, 2016

Royals complete quick climb to top tier

It took the Kansas City Royals a few years to get moving in the promotion and relegation arrangement, but they finally made it all the way up to the First Division for 2016 by splitting the Second Division title with the Texas Rangers in 2015.

The Kansas City Royals were one of the original Fourth Division clubs when this accounting began in 2010, and they were the last team to escape the dungeon, advancing as the second-place team in 2013.

But when the Royals did advance, they advanced quickly. All the way to the First Division in two years, the shortest possible climb.

The Royals earned their First Division stripes for 2016 by splitting the Second Division title with the Texas Rangers in 2015. The Rangers finished 17-10 (.630) for the leading percentage, but the Royals (35-27, .565) finished one-half game up in the games behind column.

Thus, the Rangers and the Royals are the two teams gaining promotion for
2016. Replacing them in the Second Division for 2016 are the Angels and
the Atlanta Braves, both of which were demoted from the First Division.

Kansas City spent 2010 through 2013 in the Fourth Division, seemingly with no chance to escape until it finished second in 2013. In 2014, the Royals rallied to finished second in the Third Division and gain another promotion, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in a four-game American League Championship Series to secure that raise.

The Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers both tumbled through the Second Division standings in the final two months of 2015 and finished in the bottom two. The Reds and Tigers are relegated to the Third Division for 2016. Rising from the Third Division to the Second Division are the Boston Red Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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About LA Big Leagues

Bill Peterson is an award winning journalist who has covered sports around the country for more than 30 years, including Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and major collegiate sports for daily newspapers and major wire services. His longest stint was with The Cincinnati Post from 1986-1998. He also has worked at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Sporting News and Baseball America, among other publications. He later produced successful public interest newspapers and websites in the Austin/San Antonio area. Peterson is a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, formerly with a vote for the Hall of Fame. He can be contacted by email at bill@labigleagues.com.